"We are not informed of his plan to climb alone. We would not have
let him do that if we were told about his plan, Surahman said, adding it
was too dangerous climbing from the southern slope after the 2010`s
eruption.

On Saturday afternoon Yeveny visited the Volcano Tour tourist object
at Kinahrejo, Cangkringan, together with his Indonesian girl friend
Ester, who lives in the Nologaten area, Depok, Sleman.

Later that day they returned to Yogyakarta, and during the travel
back to Yogyakarta, Yeveny told Ester he wanted to climb the mountain up
to the peak, Surahman quoting Ester as saying.

That evening Yevey returned to Kinahrejo alone riding a rented motorcycle.

He left the motorcycle at Ngrangkah, Umbulharjo, and went on to climb the mountain alone .

An officer from the Yogyakarta Search and Rescue Agency, Prisetyawan,
said Yeveny sent a cellular phone short message at 19.25 local time on
Sunday to Ester that he lost his way.

"He asked Ester to come to Merapi on Monday to look for him," Prisetyawan said.

Search still continued by tens of rescue men but still failed to locate him until 02.00 local time.

"We are in difficulty to locate him as he continued to move although we have told him (by phone) to stay put," he said. (Antara)